I purchased some novelty ribbon recently for a friend, and wanted to package it nicely for her. That’s when I had the idea to re-cover one of my old cardboard ribbon spools and turn it in to this:
Inspired to cover my own spools I took a trip out to my local craft store to look at some scrapbooking papers, and found these wonderful ‘designer buckles’ – which gave me another idea – showcasing the ribbon on the outside of the spool. There are so many wonderful papers and embellishments to choose from!
Cute hey? And they are SO quick and inexpensive to make!
Here’s how:
Requirements:
- One cardboard ribbon spool – either new and containing ribbon - or old and awaiting some!
- Small amount of scrapbooking paper (one 12X12in sheet of paper will cover at least a dozen spools of medium size)
- Embellishment of choice – such as a button or a scrapbooking ‘designer buckle’ as pictured
- Glue stick
- Double sided sticky tape
- Scissors for paper-cutting
- Kindy-Glitz (optional)
Tip: If you don’t have many scrapbooking supplies, do not worry. I don’t either! I went to my local Spotlight and picked up three sheets of 12X12 paper for $1.55 each. Most of the designer papers are double-sided and usually there is one paper in the collection that will have a myriad of different co-coordinating designs on the front. This is great for a starting point as you can get lots of different looks out of the one sheet of paper!
To start, empty the spool of any ribbon if it has any. Decide on a scrapbooking paper that complements the ribbon that it will hold. I’ll give you some tips later.
Cover one side of the spool with glue, ensuring it is fully covered (ie. “every little bit!”)
Repeat this process for the other side of the spool, and you’re done! Now the fun begins!
If you want to embellish with a button, use the double-sided sticky tape to adhere it to the top centre of the ribbon spool.
If you fancy a bit of sparkle, you could add a small amount of Kindy-Glitz (glittery glue) to the rim of the spool, like this:
The gorgeous scrapbooking buckles I used are part of the ‘Wedding Craft Collection’ by Grant Archival (an Australian stationery designer) They’re named ‘Designer Buckles’ and the other branding on the packaging is ‘Paper chic by Cristina Re’.
To make the buckle spools, cut a length of ribbon long enough to travel across the top edge of the spool and overlap by a small amount so that you can glue in place.
I used the double-sided sticky tape to attach the raw edges of the ribbon to the underneath of the spool. Try not to leave too much overhanging, so that when you wind your ribbon on the spool, it isn’t competing with any bulk from the overhang. The buckles are great because they already have little sticky pads on the reverse, so make sure you find the centre of the ribbon spool before you stick them in place, otherwise if you try to remove one, you may damage the paper beneath.
Once you have decorated the spool, wind the ribbon on. To start off this process, use a small amount of sticky tape to secure the ribbon before you commence winding.
To secure the ribbon once it has been wound-on, here’s an idea for creating your own co-ordinated sticky tape!
Cut a 2cm length of double-sided sticky tape and stick it to the reverse side of your chosen scrapbooking paper. As you can see by the picture above, I used a really small scrap!
Cut around the sticky tape and remove the backing to expose the remaining sticky side – then simply stick it over the edge of your ribbon to hold it in place!
Alternatively, just use clear sticky tape or a pin!
Here are some ideas for paper and colour choice…
For ribbons with bold bright designs, how about choosing a neutral background?
If you have neutral or natural ribbons or trims such as these jute trims, why not make a feature of the actual paper and choose something with a bespoke pattern such as this gorgeous paper by Kaiser Craft from the “Timeless Collection”? Too cute to cover with buttons or ribbons!
How about tone-on-tone? For this polka-dot trim I used the same colour paper of a different tone with larger cream-coloured dots all over. I created a bow effect for this one by sticking two short pieces of ribbon to the centre of the spool and then covering with a buckle that had doubled ribbon folded in to it. All held in place with the double-sided sticky tape – great stuff!
For a funky trim, how about a modern paper with text?
My personal favourite though is this cute green ribbon on the contrasting blue paper. By using a contrast, the ribbon is showcased! If you’re wondering where I purchased my fancy ribbons from, I got them online at Ribbons Galore. I bought the jute trims in store at Lincraft in Melbourne . Scrapbooking stores are also a great place for finding funky ribbons, and are often sold by the meter.
I hope you found this useful? If you make some and blog about it, please link back to this post!
If you like this project then you’ll love these thread & trim boards designed by the lovely Kerryanne over at Shabby Art Boutique. Kerryanne’s pattern includes her own bespoke French graphics for the boards, and she also sells mdf cut-outs, so that they’re nice and sturdy and will last a lifetime! You can find the pattern and mounting boards here. I can’t wait to make some!
Until next time my friends, Happy Crafting!
Vikki xo
It’s been a wonderful mix of busy and relaxing.
